


Like Oil And Molassses

by Subtle_Shenanigans



Category: Over the Garden Wall
Genre: Brotherly Affection, I Tried, The Unknown, bluebirds, how do you write smol happy children, mentions of fear, sequel to Afteraffects, sorry lol, whoops didn't mentioned title as a line in the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 15:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12797460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Subtle_Shenanigans/pseuds/Subtle_Shenanigans
Summary: Greg wasn't unaffected after their adventure, but he has better ways of coping. Companion to Afteraffects.





	Like Oil And Molassses

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh my notes got erased. Always, companion to Afteraffects. Wirt is 15 and Greg is 8 when they go into the Unknown, I headcanon. Yes although I forgot to mention it in Aa (Afteraffects), Wirt does have Nightmares about Greg turning into an Edelwood and he's protective.
> 
> I dunno how to write smol happy children.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated.

_Like Oil And Molasses_

* * *

 

Greg had changed since the Unknown, though not the same way as Wirt.

Wirt’s thoughts on the matter were quite accurate - it was like a little kid who watched a cheesy horror movie, unaffected, until night fell and shadows lengthened and the thoughts the movie invoked filled his small self with terror.

Greg, truth be told, _had_ been a little scared while traveling through The Unknown. He had been scared, yes, but not worried. He knew when push came to shove Wirt would help him, and although he knew his older brother had some problems, he knew his brother would eventually come around. So he trusted Wirt with his _everything_ , whether it be heart or life. Wirt wasn't lashing out to hurt Greg’s feelings, but because he himself was hurting.

So while fear lingered, ( _and it did_ ), he wasn't as haunted as his older brother.

But . . . the times where he recalled the scary were more than frightening. If it got too cold ( _the frigid, wet kind of cold, like lake water or snow_ ), he'd see Wirt lying still still still, or feeling _grasping grabbing twining although he's so **numb** and **c o l d. . .**_

But the good outweighed it enough; he could recognize bluebirds by sound, and remembered Uncle Endicott when he drank fancy icky tea, and he drew and made wonderful colorings ( _which Wirt said were very good, and that in time Greg would be a better artist than him, though he saw the little book Wirt wrote and sketched in about The Unknown, and his drawings were accurate in dark ink._ )

He also talked about the Unknown, Wirt agreeing but not interjecting, and people would at least _listen_ even though the eight-year-old knew they didn't believe him.

But it was okay, because Wirt believed him and supported him, and because there was good memories despite the scary ones, and when he did wake up with a nightmare Wirt would welcome him in the middle of the night and his brother's breathing that showed he was alive made it okay.

And when he looked up, up, _up_ the tall Garden Wall on the way home from school, even if it made him think of the frightening tumble down, down, _down_ into the water and The Unknown, he also remembered bluebirds and tea and singing songs of molasses and adventure-

And he would smile, ‘cause that was okay too.


End file.
